Thursday

The World Bank has warned that it could take action against Chad after the country's parliament changed a law governing the use of oil revenues. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said the law was a deciding factor in the bank's financial support for a massive oil pipeline project in 1999. It guaranteed that oil revenues were used to help reduce poverty in Chad. The new legislation gives the Chadian government more control over how it uses the money. It abolishes what was known as the "future generations fund", which had kept 10% of the country's oil revenues for use in tackling poverty in Chad.

The government wants to use the $36m (£21m) held in the fund to deal with some of the country's financial problems, which include months of unpaid salaries.